Survey Results: What’s it really like being in a relationship with an entrepreneur?
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What's it really like being in a relationship with an entrepreneur?
Throughout an entrepreneur’s journey, relationships act as a great enabler of strength and mental resilience, but can also act as a stress factor. The health of the supporter in the relationship is just as important.
We asked you, our community, about your relationships with entrepreneurs - personal and professional - and how they might have had an impact on your emotional, mental and psychological health.
How do you support the entrepreneur in your life? What support system(s) do you have in place? What are your top tips for managing yours (or the entrepreneur’s) emotional and mental health?
We share some of our community’s experiences on what it’s really like to be in a relationship with an entrepreneur.
What has changed today in your life as a result of your relationship with an entrepreneur?
Work never stops was a common theme across the responses we received. A common way to manage this is by firstly recognising that work is a passion, and like all passion projects, will impact the day to day ‘normal’ life routine. Acknowledging that late nights or working over the weekend is the norm for an entrepreneur is something that as a partner or family member, you have to accept and get on board with pretty quickly.
This may inevitably lead to living quite different lives. However, this doesn’t automatically lead to less admiration or respect for your partner. In many ways, it can do the opposite, as the conversation and ideas that this admiration evokes are much more interesting and flow constantly.
How do you as a partner support their emotional and mental well being?
“It’s not about having answers to my partner’s questions. It’s about having interest and care and empathy for their questions. ”
Do you have your own support system to help you take care of your wellbeing while supporting your partner?
80% of all respondents answered ‘Yes’, to having their own support systems in place, mainly consisting of family, friends and faith.
We’ve learned through prior research that the mechanisms used and ways entrepreneurs themselves cope with emotional challenges also focus on some of the same support systems. Faith, family and fitness are important to disconnect . Activities unrelated to business also matter, such as meditation, music and poetry, and psychedelics.
What have you learned about yourself through being in a relationship with an entrepreneur?
“My partner’s questioning attitude and increased time alone means I am constantly learning new things about myself. I also can’t be self-indulgent with them about feeling low/emotional as everything has a solution or fix or practical perspective - when I need this kind of support, I turn to friends instead. ”
“It makes me more comfortable with risk, more prone to seeing possibility rather than roadblocks”
“I couldn’t do it myself”
How has 'being in a relationship with an entrepreneur" impacted your own well being and emotional and mental health?
Our respondents shared a little more about the negative impacts of being in a relationship with an entrepreneur. Some were worried for the entrepreneur’s future, while others were concerned that the lack of time available and long working hours led them to feeling lonely.
“Specific to the lockdown context it has meant extended periods of spending time alone and during high intensity periods of their work it would take them a long time to lift themselves out of their innovating/thinking mind-set, so it didn’t feel like they were always mentally present. This sometimes led to difficult conversations or periods of feeling low.”
On the positive side, other respondents said that the entrepreneur’s achievements were inspiring, and that it had even helped them realise that they could be an entrepreneur too.
What key tips on being in a relationship with an entrepreneur you’d like to share?
Our community shared a range of tips that have helped them in navigating the relationships they have with entrepreneurs: from setting a structure to your week together, to ensuring that you maintain your own interests and drivers.
Finding ways to keep the relationship and personal connection alive was particularly important for the entrepreneur partners/spouses. The idea of creating structure in order to maintain this connection is key, whether that be ensuring that you make time to wind down before non-work activities or stepping away from work into nature to reconnect.
Communication is key in any relationship. Keeping an entrepreneur grounded, while at the same time knowing when to back-off and let them work is important. The emotional and mental health of the supporter is just as important as the entrepreneur’s, so communicating that if you need more from them, you need to be explicit.
“Patience and understanding. Love is all that really matters.”
Thank you to all of those in our community who participated in the survey. For further stories, tools and resources on the topic of entrepreneurial relationships, check out our newsfeed or the NAKED podcast, where our guests and hosts provide some ideas and tips that might trigger inspiration for managing your own emotional and mental health, as well as that of the entrepreneur’s in your life.
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Are you interested in contributing on the topic of entrepreneur health and emotional resilience with us? Or interested in inviting The Future Farm to contribute to your initiatives or event? Drop us a note.
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